New York, NY (January 28, 2015) – After kicking off his Plain Spoken Tour with sold out shows in South Bend, IN, Louisville, Cincinnati and two nights at Nashville’s historic Ryman Theatre, John Mellencamp will crisscross North America for a total of 80 shows, hitting his hometown of Bloomington, as well as Chicago, Los Angeles, four nights in New York, and multiple dates across Canada. The tour, produced by AEG Live, will continue through August and features special guest Carlene Carter. Tickets and VIP packages for the “Voice of the Heartland’s” 2015 tour are selling out quick - fans can purchase available tickets for the Plain Spoken Tour at JohnMellencamp.com.

Accolades for the tour’s opening night are already pouring in:

• “For this opening-night performance, both Mellencamp and Carter came out confident and purposeful, ready for the 79 dates ahead to mine the roots of American music and investigate what it means to live and die.” South Bend Tribune
• “Friday night at a sold-out Louisville Palace, the 63-year-old Mellencamp had his share of fun — he's always been a consummate showman — but there was an underlying richness to his set that was far more impressive.” Louisville Courier-Journal
• “John Mellencamp’s sold-out Plain Spoken Tour stop at the Aronoff Center for the Arts in Cincinnati felt more like 3,300 old friends getting back together rather than 3,300 strangers meeting for a night of music--that's the effect of Mellencamp’s music. It feels good and familiar, like going back home after being away for years; and Saturday night, it felt damn good to all that attended.” Out of the Blue

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The Rock And Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Award winner released Plain Spoken September 23, one of the most lauded records of his career, to rave reviews. Fans will receive a digital download of Plain Spoken with their ticket purchase.

Praise for Plain Spoken:

• "Folk-rock and philosophy are the making's of John Mellencamp's new album, Plain Spoken. The music looks back towards Bob Dylan's "Blood On The Tracks, with strummed guitars, and brushes on the drums and neck-rack harmonica, and the words ponder trouble, power, love, God, freedom, and mortality - the concerns of a songwriter acting his age.”  New York Times
• "Rugged, rural and packed with an aging rocker's gimmick-free reflections on life and hope Plain Spoken is the first album in Mellencamp's "lifetime contract" with Republic. The stark, soul- baring lead single, "Troubled Man" like the rest of the album, follows the acoustic path of Mellencamp's last two project's 2010’s No Better Than This and 2008’s Life, Death Love and Freedom." BILLBOARD
• “Hemingway-esque”  Philadelphia Inquirer

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PLAIN SPOKEN TOUR DATES:

January 30             Columbus, OH                       Mershon Auditorium

January 31             Cleveland, OH                       Playhouse Square – Palace Theatre

February 3            Bloomington, IN                    Indiana University Auditorium

February 4            Bloomington, IN                    Indiana University Auditorium

February 9            Green Bay, WI                      Weidner Center

February 11          Minneapolis, MN                  Northrop Auditorium

February 12          Minneapolis, MN                  Northrop Auditorium

February 14          Kansas City, MO                    Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland

February 15          Des Moines, IA                     Des Moines Civic Center

February 17          Chicago, IL                             Chicago Theatre

February 18          Chicago, IL                             Chicago Theatre

March 5                 San Antonio, TX                    Tobin Center For The Performing Arts

March 7                 Dallas, TX                               McFarlin Memorial Auditorium

March 8                 Austin, TX                              Bass Concert Hall

March 10               New Orleans, LA                  Saenger Theatre

March 12               Birmingham, AL                    BJCC Concert Hall

March 13               Atlanta, GA                            Fox Theatre

March 15               Jacksonville, FL                     Moran Theater

March 17               Ft. Lauderdale, FL                Broward Center for the Performing Arts

March 19               Clearwater, FL                      Ruth Eckerd Hall

March 20               Clearwater, FL                      Ruth Eckerd Hall

March 22               Orlando, FL                           Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

March 24               Columbia, SC                         The Township Auditorium

March 26               North Charleston, SC           North Charleston PAC

March 27               Charlotte, NC                        Ovens Auditorium

March 29               Norfolk, VA                            Norfolk Scope Arena – Chrysler Hall Theatre

March 31               Durham, NC                           Durham PAC

April 15                  Boston, MA                           Citi PAC Wang Theatre

April 16                  Providence, RI                      Providence PAC

April 18                  Red Bank, NJ                         Count Basie Theatre

April 20                  New York, NY                        Carnegie Hall

April 21                  New York, NY                        Carnegie Hall

April 23                  New York, NY                        Apollo Theatre

April 24                  New York, NY                        Apollo Theatre

April 26                  Washington, DC                    DAR Constitution Hall

April 29                  Hamilton, ON                        Hamilton Place Theatre

May 1                     Toronto, ON                          Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

May 2                     Toronto, ON                          Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

May 5                     Quebec City, QC                   Grand Theatre

May 6                     Montreal, QC                        St. Denis Theatre

May 8                     Syracuse, NY                         Landmark Theatre

May 9                     Buffalo, NY                             Shea’s PAC

May 12                   Pittsburgh, PA                       Benedum Center

May 27                   Evansville, IN                         Old National Events Plaza

May 29                   St. Louis, MO                         Peabody Opera House

May 30                   Rockford, IL                           Coronado PAC

June 2                    Madison, WI                          Overture Center for the Arts – Overture Hall

June 3                    Peoria, IL                               Peoria Civic Center Theatre

June 5                    Milwaukee, WI                     Milwaukee Riverside Theater

June 6                    Fort Wayne, IN                     Embassy Theatre

June 9                    Grand Rapids, MI                  DeVos Performance Hall

June 10                  Detroit, MI                             Detroit Opera House

June 12                  Baltimore, MD                      Modell PAC at The Lyric

June 13                  Richmond, VA                       Altria Theater

June 16                  Philadelphia, PA                   Merriam Theatre

June 17                  Roanoke, VA                         Roanoke Civic Center Theatre

June 19                  Savannah, GA                        Johnny Mercer Theatre

June 20                  Augusta, GA                          William B. Bell Auditorium

June 23                  Memphis, TN                         Orpheum Theatre

July 8                      Winnipeg, MB                       Centennial Concert Hall

July 10                    Regina, SK                              Conexus Arts Centre

July 11                    Regina, SK                              Conexus Arts Centre

July 13                    Saskatoon, SK                        TCU Place

July 15                    Calgary, AB                            Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium

July 18                    Vancouver, BC                      Queen Elizabeth Theatre

July 19                    Seattle, WA                           Benaroya Hall

July 21                    Portland, OR                         Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

July 23                    Fresno, CA                             William Saroyan Theatre

July 25                    Oakland, CA                          Oakland Paramount Theatre of the Arts

July 26                    Sacramento, CA                    Sacramento Community Theatre

July 28                    Los Angeles, CA                    Nokia Theatre L.A. Live

July 29                    Phoenix, AZ                           Comerica Theater

July 31                    Denver, CO                           Ellie Caulkins Opera House

August 2                Omaha, NE                             Orpheum Theatre

August 4                Indianapolis, IN                     Bankers Life Fieldhouse

JOHN MELLENCAMP: Mellencamp’s  career  in music, spanning  more  than  35  years, has  seen  him  transition  from  pop star  to  one  of  the  most  highly regarded songwriters of a generation.  The Voice of The Heartland continues to evolve artistically with Plain Spoken—the first new music from the artist since 2010's critically acclaimed No Better Than This. Plain Spoken is John's 22nd full length album.  Mellencamp is incredibly acclaimed. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Grammy winner, a recipient of the John Steinbeck Award, ASCAP  Foundation’s Champion  Award,  The Woody Guthrie Award,  and Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.  He is also one of the most successful live concert performers in the world.  The social activism reflected in his songs helped catalyze Farm Aid, the concert series and organization that has  addressed the struggle of American family farmers for more than 25 years.  The unique instrumentation of his band and his poignant songs about everyday life in the American heartland, are widely credited with being the forebearer of the Americana/No Depression genre of rural-inflected music.   The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is a musical with music and lyrics by John Mellencamp, a libretto by author Stephen King and production by T Bone Burnett.  This extraordinary collaboration 16 years in the making is a haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge, performed by an ensemble cast of 15 actors and a four-piece live band, comprised of members of John Mellencamp’s band. The Musical is currently on tour in North America. An 80-city tour in North American and Canada  begins in January 2015. His final performance held in Indianapolis at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse on August 4th will benefit the Riley Children’s Foundation, which supports Riley Hospital for Children (rileykids.org).  Also an accomplished painter, his one-man show The Paintings of John Mellencamp is currently on view at Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, GA from January 17 to April 12, 2015.